The Beginning

One autumn eve in 2005, London, too impatience to wait at a bus stop, a decision to walk the bus route led to six hours of drifting across the streets into the small hours of the morning. Surprised at the thrill and discovery of the peace and beauty of the city, it was recreated the following summer, for 12 hours, from 6pm to 6 am and The Midnight Run was born. In light of the political and artistic movement of The Situationists, but Remixed to London 40 years later, The Midnight Run aims to negate the frenzy and hysteria of mass media, pop culture, hype and reality tv for actual reality, for the simplicity and intimacy of walking and talking. The idea is to reclaim the streets, dispel the notion of danger after dark, try to discover after dark. It is to inhabit the confines of glass, concrete, steel and structure, as a child does a maze; with as much innocence and wonderment as is natural. It is to situate meetings of strangers and watch them become friends in a short time. It asks contemporary artist to interact with the city, to respond to it by creating art (there by documenting) based on experiences within The Run. It is about living the magic of the space of the city with its inhabitants. In the Midnight motto, ‘star’ can be taken literally, or as a metaphor for art, artists, experiences and the people in the shadow of the city, in which case it takes on a beauty and importance:

        The Midnight Run //
        Cause we can’t see stars for fumes
        we turn to smashed glass, believing
        shards shine like constellations do.

Inua Ellams
06/08